I will try and help but I don't have a TNT card and any pre-cache problems. In UT advanced options/advanced/game engine settings, change the "game engine cache from the default of 4MB up to at least 20MB. In advanced options/audio, disable the "use 3d hardware" since EAX support is borked anyway. In advanced options/rendering/d3d see if you can increase the "refresh rate" from the default of 60 Hz up to at least 100Hz.
Now here is a post or part of a post that I did a few days ago and I got this from another site but it should help your reduce your hard drive hitching a bit.
"Step 1. CLOSE YOUR DAMN PROGRAMS!
The biggest waste of RAM can be misc. programs that aren't essential
for Windows to run. This includes any StartUp group programs,
services, etc. that you don't need, and that aren't required for
Windows to run. To get rid of this crap, delete the item from the
StartUp group, or use MSConfig to disable services that you don't
need. The only things that should be in your systray are the clock,
and the UT server icon. Try to avoid running any FTP/Web servers as
they can hog a lot of RAM, and may affect your speed. One other
thing to do is get rid of any backround picture you may have on your
desktop. An 800x600 16-bit background consumes around 1 meg or so of
memory, so git rid of it! If you are running active desktop, turn
that mofo off as well. You need all the RAM you can get! Also, you
may want to try turning your color depth down to 16 bit colors. It may
help, or it may not. Be sure to close all virus and ICQ programs,
this is a must. My system at boot only has the windows exployer and
systry running and starts off with a cpu that is 97% free.
Step 2. Tame that swapfile!
If your swapfile isn't already setup as a permanent swapfile, doing
this is a MUST! The reason being is that Windows will dynamically
change the swapfile to meet its needs, thereby wasting precious CPU
cycles and causing unnecessary disk access. This will cause your
system to not perform at 100%. By setting up a permanent swapfile,
you free up your CPU to concentrate on the game, not on resizing that
damn swapfile. If you are using NT, your swapfile is already
permament, you can skip this entire section.
To setup a permanent swapfile for Windows 9x, right click on My
Computer and select the Properties. You can also get here through the
control panel by double clicking the System icon. Head over to the
Performance tab, and select Virtual Memory. Since we are going for
Maximum Tweakage, we are going to have to defrag your hard drive in
order to create a defragged swapfile. Here's how to do it:
1.) Disable your Virtual Memory. Windows will cry a few times, just
ignore its error messages.
2.) Reboot your computer and defrag your C: drive. If your swapfile
is on a different drive/partition, defrag that drive instead.
3.) After the defrag is complete, go back to the Virtual memory
settings and select 'Let me specify my own virtual memory settings'.
Make both the Minimum and Maximum values the same. This prevents
Windows from wasting time resizing the swapfile. If disk space is
low, you can go with a 200 MB swapfile, otherwise go for 300 MB. This
will ensure you will never run out of virtual RAM.
4.) Reboot and enjoy your optimized swapfile!
Step 2a. DMA!
Please make sure that if your hard drive supports UDMA, that the DMA
button is checked under the Device Manager. Also check your CD drive
and confirm that "DMA" is enabled."
